George Washington to William Livingston, 23 March 1781
To William Livingston
Head Quarters New Windsor March 23d 1781
Dear Sir
I was honored on my return from Rhode Island,1 with Your Excellencys Letter of the 1st Inst. together with the enclosures.2
Altho the discharging a single man from the service, is a very inconsiderable diminution of our force; Yet when the innumerable applications on this subject are taken into consideration, the unavoidable ⟨de⟩crease of our Army if discharges are granted, the amazing difficulty of procuring men for the War, and the heavy expence attending the recruiting service; it cannot certainly be considered as a hardship, to retain ⟨those⟩ in service, who were fairly inlisted, and with a large bounty—unless able bodied substitutes are procured in their room. Under this condition, I would consent to the dismission of Robert Skekit: otherwis[e] it wou⟨ld⟩ be opening a door of uneasiness to Others, an⟨d⟩ doing an essential injury to the Public.3
If the presence of4 Skekit is so necessary with his Tribe, upon providing a substitute for the War, the Commanding Officer of the Regt may make the excha⟨nge⟩. I have the honor to be With great regard and esteem Your Excellency’s Most Obedt Humble Servt
Go: Washington
N.B. The Original is supposed to have miscarried in the last Mail.5
LS (duplicate), in David Humphreys’s writing, NN: William Livingston Papers; Df, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW. Only the LS includes the postscript. Mutilated portions of the LS are supplied in angle brackets from the draft.
1. GW had returned to New Windsor on 20 March (see GW to Rochambeau, 16 March, n.1; see also GW to Alexander Hamilton, 7 March, source note).
2. In his letter to GW on 1 March, Livingston sought the discharge of Robert Skikkit, a Munsee Indian and private in the 2d New Jersey Regiment.
3. Livingston quoted this paragraph when he wrote former New Jersey legislator Josiah Foster from Trenton on 10 April about how he had contacted GW regarding Skikkit “more for the sake of convincing the Indians of my readiness to do all in my power to procure the young man’s discharge, than from any prospect I had of succeeding in the application, as I know the General’s great disinclination to the countenancing that practice.
“By reason of his going to Rhode Island soon after, I never had an answer from him till yesterday. …
“When opportunity offers, I hope Sir you will acquaint the Indians with these his Excellencys reasons, & I doubt not they will be convinced of their solidity, & if the presence of Skekit is so necessary among his tribe, that they will endeavor to procure his exchange by providing a substitute during the war” (, 4:177–78).
4. GW’s aide-de-camp David Humphreys, who penned the draft, wrote and then struck out “the Indian” after this word.
5. GW’s original letter may have been among intercepted correspondence (see GW to Elias Dayton, 4 April, and n.2 to that document).